While the Watchtower has never published either actual statistics or estimates of the impact of their blood policy on Jehovah’s Witnesses, it is well-known in the medical community that the policy has caused or contributed to numerous premature deaths among followers who observe the policy.123

Ithas certainly beenwithin the ability of Watchtower officials to collect data on the numbers of Jehovah’s Witnesses who have died prematurely because of the blood policy, as they already carefully track the activity of every member. Additionally, Watchtower HLC and HVC representatives are frequently involved in many of these cases. The likely explanation, as to why the numbers have never been released, is that such data would create a liability for the Watchtower Society in much the same way as their database of known and suspected pedophiles has done when it came to light.4

AJWRB medical adviser, Dr. Osamu Muramoto, M.D., and AJWRB Science Adviser Marvin Shilmer looked at the available medical studies and independently developed extrapolations of the impact of Watchtower’s policy in terms of estimated lives lost since the beginning of the Watchtower’s blood transfusion prohibition and a projection of lives potentially lost annually. We begin with a review of these estimates, then adjust them to bring the numbers current.

Dr. Osamu Muramoto, MD – AJWRB Medical Adviser

In 2001, Dr. Muramoto used a study by Kitchens CS: Are transfusions overrated? Surgical outcome of Jehovah’s Witnesses. It was published in the February 1993 issue of The American Journal of Medicine on pages 117-119. The study was based on 1404 “bloodless” surgeries performed on Jehovah’s Witnesses, and showed that 1.4% of these patients died to a lack of blood as either a primary or contributing cause of their death. Simply stated, this means that every time a JW had “bloodless surgery” their chance of death was 1.4% greater due to refusing blood.In an abundance of caution, Dr. Muramoto elected to round down this figure to 1% to allow for some who may have died anyway, so stated another way he determined that for every one hundred “bloodless” operations on Jehovah’s Witnesses, one death could be attributed to blood refusal.

At that time the American Association of Blood Banks reported that approximately 4 million patients received blood transfusions from 12.6 million units of donated blood every year. That meant that 4 million or 15 of every 1000 Americans had conditions requiring blood each year.

There were about 1,000,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses in the United States at the time, so approximately 15,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses would have had conditions that would normally require a blood transfusion. If their rate of death increased by 1% due to blood refusal, this means that about 150 Jehovah’s Witnesses died that year in the United States due to observing Watchtower’s blood prohibition.5

Since Jehovah’s Witnesses are a multi-national religious organization, we have to extend this extrapolation to account for these members in other countries, and we also have to account for the fact that the policy has been in place since 1945. However, since observing the policy was optional until 1961, we have elected to leave out the intervening years (from 1945-1961). Like Dr. Muramoto, we want to error on the side of caution, even though it can be reasonably assumed that many deaths occurred during this period due to the very limited availability of “bloodless” treatment.

We have compiled the Watchtower’s published data on Jehovah’s Witness publishers between the years of 1961-2016. Over this 56 year period, the average number of publishers per year was 3,957,868. Converting the factor determined by Dr. Muramoto this would indicate that 33,246 Jehovah’s Witnesses died during this 56 year period. On an annual basis that works out to an average of 594 deaths per year, with 1220 deaths in 2016.

It is our conclusion this represents a conservative estimate since many of the high-tech treatments and medical equipment currently in use did not exist in earlier years, and to this day does not exist in third world countries where Jehovah’s Witnesses have experienced much of their growth. While actual numbers will never be known, it is probable that the actual number of deaths among the Jehovah’s Witnesses population is higher, perhaps significantly higher.

Marvin Shilmer, AJWRB Science Adviser

In 2012 Marvin Shilmer, a former Jehovah’s Witness official, prepared a second estimate of the impact of Watchtower’s blood policy on Jehovah’s Witnesses and their children.6 In this case he was able to use a more recent study by Beliaev et al, entitled Clinical benefits and cost-effectiveness of allogeneic red-blood-cell transfusion in severe symptomatic anemia, published in VoxSanguinis in 2012.

This was a multicenter observational study pairing Jehovah’s Witness patients (excluding those under age sixteen and those with advanced cancer) who refused red blood cell products with matched patients who received red blood cell (RBC) products. Data was collected from four public hospitals in New Zealand between 1998-2007. During this period, the study found 103 JW patients who suffered severe anemia, and of these 20.4% died (21 patients). The death rate among the matching group who accepted RBC products was just 1.9%. So the net difference in mortality can be directly attributed to following Watchtower blood policy. 20.4 – 1.9 equals 18.45%.

Put another way, this means that if this group of 103 JW’s had accepted RBC products instead of having 21 deaths, there would have been just 2 deaths. Since the study covered a ten year period, and there were 19 JW’s who died unnecessarily, approximately 1.9 deaths per year occurred. Over this 10 year period, the average number of JW publishers was 12,700. 1.9 deaths per year amounts to 0.015% of the JW population. This is consistent with the factor that Dr. Muramoto arrived at in his 2001 analysis based on a separate study.

Both Dr. Muramoto and Marvin Shilmer’s calculations resulted in the same mortality factor (0.015% annually). If we apply that computation to the current population of Jehovah’s Witnesses, it is relatively straightforward to arrive at an updated mortality figure.

According to the Watchtower Society’s published annual report, the average number of publishers during the 2016 service year was 8,132,358. If we multiply that number by 0.015% (0.00015) we arrive at 1,220 Jehovah’s Witnesses worldwide that died prematurely in 2016 as a result of Watchtower’s blood policy. This is a staggering number by any measure, and amounts to more deaths on an annual basis than all of the victims of the People’s Temple massacre in Jonestown, Guyana that claimed 918 lives on November 18, 1978.7

Jonestown Massacre in Guyana – 1978

However, the tragedy of the Jonestown Massacre was a one time occurrence. The deaths that the Watchtower’s blood prohibition has been responsible for have been occurring for over 7 decades. The Watchtower’s tragic blood policy can be traced back to its beginnings in 1945. By 1961 Watchtower leaders began to take their policy so seriously that they made failure to observe it an offense worthy of everlasting death. Not content to leave the matter is God’s hands, they began to judge, and officially disfellowship, those refusing to accept their interpretation.

The impact on the lives of Jehovah’s Witnesses forced to observe this policy has been devastating, both on an individual level, and as an organization. We compiled the Watchtower’s annual reports from 1961, the year that taking a blood transfusion became a disfellowshipping offense, up to 2016. During that 56 year period, there were average annual publishers of 3,957,868. If we multiply this figure by 56 (years) and by the annual death factor of 0.015%, there have been approximately 33,246deaths caused by Watchtower’s policy during that period. It is not an exaggeration to think of this as a tragedy approaching genocide.

Conservative Estimates

Staggering as these numbers are, it is a conservative estimate of the loss of life. As noted above, Dr. Muramoto rounded down the actual increase in mortality from 1.4% to 1%. If we use the 1.4% mortality rate (the actual conclusion reached by Kitchens) this results in casualties that are 40% higher: 1708 deaths caused by Watchtower’s blood policy in 2016, and a total of 46,544 deaths between 1961-2016.

Marvin Shilmer notes that the New Zealand study draws from the records of four hospitals in the more densely populated Northern and midland regions which contain 57% of the country’s population. New Zealand has more than eighty hospitals in less densely populated regions that account for approximately 43% of the county’s population, and they are similarly equipped. If the mortality rate is appropriately prorated for 57% of the nation’s population, it results in an increase of the annual mortality factor to .00026, and the extrapolation indicates 2,114 deaths caused by Watchtower’s blood policy in 2016, and 57,626 deaths between 1961-2016.

While actual numbers can never be known, the most likely toll probably falls somewhere between these various estimates. To offer perspective, consider there were 33,739 U.S. Service members killed in action in the Korean War,8and 40,934 U.S. Service members killed in action in the Vietnam War.9 If we add up all of the deaths caused by terrorist attacks attributed the Taliban, Al-Qa’ida, Boko Haram, and ISIL between 2000-2013, we arrive at a total of 23,899.10

These numbers will come as a surprise to many, particularly Jehovah’s Witnesses. AJWRB has seen many examples of deaths that have occurred due to the blood ban, and we have documented many of these experiences so that others can understand what has happened and learn from it. The simple truth, however, is that the Watchtower Society is a very large organization with more than 8 million members at present. When one of these cases leads to a premature death, it is always tragic. However, it is seldom newsworthy unless a child, adolescent or pregnant JW is involved. As a result, the vast majority of these cases are not covered by the media and remain unknown.

This is particularly the case when countries like the United States have health privacy laws that restrict doctors from sharing the medical information of their patients. We typically only learn of cases where:

AJWRB members personally report experiences.

Non Jehovah’s Witness family members report to the media.

Physicians or hospitals go to court to obtain a court order to treat a minor JW.

Much of the shock value of these death estimates is related to the sheer global size of the JW community. Let’s illustrate. If the average congregation has about 100 publishers, and the average circuit consists of about 20 congregations, our conservative estimate suggests there is approximately 1 death in that circuit every 3.3 years as a result of the blood policy. The typical JW would expect to see one premature death in their congregation every 66.6 years. If they meet in a Kingdom Hall that has three congregations and personally know 300 JW’s, they might expect to learn of one blood policy related death every 22.2 years. The average JW who has been a member for ten years or less is unlikely to know of a single case.

Despite this, the average Jehovah’s Witness continues to labor under the false belief that blood is not only something to be avoided for religious reasons, but for medical reasons as well. The reason is straightforward: Watchtower has consistently exaggerated the risks of blood transfusions, and stated or implied they are harmful, dangerous and unnecessary.11 Further, they have denied the impact their policy has on the Jehovah’s Witness community that is required to observe their complex policy.

The following quote from the Watchtower’s website on May 9, 2017 illustrates this point:

What evidence does the Watchtower point to in support of this claim? Beyond some studies about bloodless surgery, none that we could find. While it is all well and good that most elective surgery can be performed without blood transfusion, these procedures are seldom the “life or death” challenge faced by physicians treating Jehovah’s Witnesses. The major issues occur with severe trauma, childbirth complications, and chronic diseases of the blood for which no effective substitutes for a blood transfusion exist.

Simply stated, the major killer of Jehovah’s Witnesses who are observing Watchtower’s blood policy is anemia. It is an inescapable fact that when the cells of the body fail to receive oxygen for more than just a few minutes, cell death begins to occur. Jehovah’s Witnesses are very misinformed about this, with most believing that blood and blood products amount to dangerous, even reckless medical treatment.

While much can be said about the potential benefits of patient blood management or blood conservation, removing the safety net of blood transfusions adds significant and unnecessary risk to any elective surgery. Additionally, in some crucial situations like trauma, childbirth, and diseases of the blood, there are no effective substitutes for blood.

While the Watchtower Society states the policy is Biblical, they offer nothing substantive to support their partial ban on blood beyond vague scriptural references to not eating blood. Members are required to support whatever the current policy is, and JW children are also taught the importance of compliance from a very young age. Even non JW family members may be compelled into following Watchtower’s policy, and indoctrination is so complete, there is often significant levels of compliance among former JW’s.

Additionally, failure to comply will result in extreme shunning by other JW members, and lifelong friends who will be prohibited from eating a meal or even speaking to the non-compliant JW who does not follow the policy, or even questions it for that matter. This intrusion into the personal lives of members amounts to coercive control or undue influence, and makes free and informed consent practically impossible. If a man holds a gun to your head, and tells you to do something, what kind of choice do you have? If you do what you are told while the gun is to your head, what role did the gunman play in whatever “choice” you make? The choice an anemic Jehovah’s Witness faces is similar to the choice a child had in Jonestown. Drink the Kool-Aid or be executed. Well meaning physicians and hospitals often fail to comprehend these complex issues, and unwittingly participate in JW’s martyring themselves, and their adolescent children.

JW’s (Watchtower Society) will never change their fallacious policy, because to do so will leave themselves open to litigation. They will ever say it’s a religious prohibition and regardless of any proven benefits, they will not go against doctrine.

Vaccination and organ transplant bans were also considered religious prohibitions by the Watchtower. Additionally, so were every one of the multitude of blood products (fractions) including hemoglobin.

The safest course of action, by far, for elective surgery is a patient blood management protocol that maintains the safety net of red cell transfusion. It is important to understand that physicians are not actively seeking to transfuse blood products, as they are well informed as to the potential risks and complications. The majority of deaths among JWs are not coming from elective surgery. They are coming from trauma, chronic blood disorders (like Leukemia), and childbirth. Every JW congregation publisher has his activity recorded to compile the field service reports. They also keep a file of signed advance directives. It would be a fairly simple matter for the Watchtower to request that the congregation report any death arising out of a lack of blood or anemia.

“Every JW congregation publisher has his activity recorded to compile the field service reports.”

These are reported to Watchtower only in aggregate, not individually, for the sake of compiling worldwide statistics and allocation of resources.

Ditto with medical directives. On file at the congregation, forwarded nowhere.

If we take into account greater survival rates, blood being a foreign tissue, bloodless medicine saves more lives than it costs, and the gap will only widen over time. Doctors owe Jehovah’s Witnesses a debt for spurring its development.

1% is not a large number. I would be surprised if medical error alone does not cost greater than that number for given transfusions. The hospital setting is hardly error free.

Moreover, it is generally thought noble to be willing to put one’s life on the line for a cause deemed worthy. The military, for instance.

It would be a simple matter for the congregation to track and include with their monthly report. Your conclusions or statements regarding greater survival rate are erroneous suppositions. If you deem this a cause worthy of dying, by all means put your life on the line – that is your choice. Just bear in mind that vaccinations, organ transplants and blood fractions were at one time all believed to be “noble” reasons to put ones life in jeopardy.

Safer outcomes post-bloodless has been confirmed many times. Furthermore, it is intuitive. Blood is a foreign tissue and we all know the body tries to reject foreign tissue. Relieve it of that stress and it does better.

Moreover, if we look at the entire picture, JWs also abstain from overdrink, tobacco, drugs, even war, making it by far the ‘safest’ religion out there. If you claim 10K Witness deaths, how many must you lay at the feet of other faiths for these dangers?

The difference is that Jehovah’s Witnesses coerce their young into a belief system which is neither biblically based nor remotely based on sound medical and scientific data. The broad picture includes not only the ban on blood products, but the principle of shunning and the organizational cover up of child abuse, with internal management of matters which should always be left to professionals. Jehovah’s Witnesses are poorly educated and rely on this very principle for their religion to take root in the lives of so many millions worldwide. The growth is not evidence of any Godly blessing, it is the simple application of cult influence upon the lives of persons not well prepared to defend themselves against undue influence. The victims which suffer the worst are children, who are indoctrinated into this cult from infancy. This is what we will put a stop to with every effort possible. Awareness is raised, and we are making great strides in freeing persons of such influence, allowing them to think for themselves

Physicians are well informed about the risks of using blood products, including all of the blood products (100% of blood in fractionated form) the WT permits. The blood supply is safe, and rejecting a medically necessary blood transfusion on the basis that there are few post surgery complications among patients who don’t use blood is reckless. Dying from anemia counterbalances any benefit from avoiding blood.

It is a fallacious argument to say that patients who do not receive a blood transfusion during a surgery do better post surgery because they didn’t receive blood. Patients who did not receive blood generally didn’t need it because they were not as sick. Hence, they do better.

What you say about pedophelia records is irrelevant, as Watchtower records kept concerning child sex abusers has never resulted in protection for JW children.

To be relevant, the study should have compared both the number of patients (having surgery) who died when:
1) Having bloodless procedures in lieu of traditional approach of blood transfusion
2) Having had the SAME types of procedures as group 1, but used traditional approach of blood transfusion

The same measures should be applied as were applied to the ‘bloodless’ group.
Otherwise the totals aren’t even relevant.

I don’t believe this.most time. people who live with this choice have very strong faith and no one should knock them. I myself have been asked and today with so much technology that is not a problem like it was in the 70,or80s. People should mind the things they say and speak only when you have the truth.

“people who live with this choice have very strong faith and no one should knock them.”

If my faith included an edict that I must watch my children or loved ones die, when their death is easily preventable, would you knock me for it? I hope you would. There is a vast difference between a strong faith, and the truth. The fact that you think respecting someones faith means more than the lives of children, or loved ones is really sad. I hope you get the help you need to heal.

My mom a Jehovah’s Witness died from not having a blood transfusion May 11, 2004. I was with her when she died, my dad was an elder, I had left the cult in 1990 and was not only shunned but I was disinherited in court for not returning. I was told they never mentioned (no transfusion) in the Kingdom Hall why my mom really had to die, the doctor begged me to talk to my dad, but you know how that goes. I sat with her on her hospital bed with her feeling hopeless while the elders swarmed the room like vultures making sure my dad did not cave in. I was not even allowed to be in the receiving line at her funeral for no longer being a JW. Such a needless loss, I say they murdered my mom. The worst day of my life and I have had many losses.

Very sorry for your loss Susan. Thank you for sharing your story here at AJWRB. If you would be willing to tell it in more detail, we could feature it in the hope that others will learn from your family’s story.

I am so sorry for the loss of your mother. That is just awful. My father was an elder and died from not accepting a blood transfusion. I was with him to when he died it was awful. I still have PTSD from it. Then an elder at the hall on stage tells everyone to be like my Dad he never acccepted a transfussion and died because of it. I was so angry. Like you said as far as I am concerned this awful cult is responsible for my dads and your mothers death.

Consider the emotional trauma. I knew of a 13 year old who received a blood transfusion by court order to treat his sickle cell anemia. According to Watchtower Society’s teachings, he is to equate this action as to being raped.

I had anal bleeddng and lost about one liter of blood. My albumin was down to 8.5. I told the doctors that they were smart enough to do what is necessary without blood.

They put me on a regime of some strong pills that bit by bit brought the albumin up to 13.5. I felt better that my own body made the blood instead of having some other person’s blood surging through my veins.

Just a bit biased, why not answer how many people have died from blood transfusions since 1961.eg.90% of hemophiliacs from hiv….JWs have always fought for God-given rights.I salute and adore Jehovah for free will,and am ever thankful for you allowing me to say so💙

Its interesting that you bring this up Ann. JW’s often believe they have had some sort of divine protection from the AIDS epidemic that broke out in the 1980’s. The truth of the matter is that much of the AIDS transmission occurred among the Hemophiliac population since treatments of clotting factor requires the pooled blood of thousands of donors. The reality is that the Watchtower Society has given permission to JW hemophiliacs to use clotting factors since the mid 1970’s, thus leaving this population exposed to the risk at the worst possible time.

People who love Jah love their children as well. It seems those who hate JWs actually hate them when they refuse all forms of blood, and even when their consciences and science have figured a way for them to maintain their faith and by their own mind make a choice that can maintain both their faith and science.Hallelujah that God will resurrect both because Christ died for all our sins. Your hate is all over this page, brother🤔

Sue N., PhD
on November 10, 2017 at 9:55 PM

I am sorry for each and every person who has died, that would have lived by accepting a blood transfusion. However, if an adult of sound mind refuses a blood transfusion, that is no ones business but there own. You can say they are part of a cult, or brainwashed, or whatever but they still have the right to refuse any sort of medical treatment or any treatment at all. There certainly are people who refuse surgery for various reasons (not just religious) who die because of that refusal. What about women who carry a pregnancy to full term, but have illnesses such as cancer, and know they could die because of delaying treatment while pregnant? There have been women who have died because of this.
The only real issue is that of JW’s children whose parents refuse blood transfusions for them. Sometimes, a court order is made to override the parents’ request. We would hope our legal system gives the child’s right to life over the parents’ beliefs.
Finally, the statistical analyses in the articles cited are so flawed, that using them is pointless. Practically every premise and conclusion made using the numbers provided are wrong and therefore cannot support the article’s contentions.

While you admit that children are the greatest concern, and the fact that courts will intervene on their behalf, you completely ignore the evidence that a great majority of adult JWs now made their decision to become baptized Jehovah’s Witnesses when they were minors. Many of them were as young as 8-16 years of age. The extreme undue influence and control wielded over these minors carries over into adulthood. Your suggestion that they can decide for themselves once they become an adult is absolutely false. The indoctrination of minors along with the intense pressure to conform to the insular society of Jehovah’s Witnesses, and the severe punishment which is executed upon anyone who would break the Witness blood doctrine is overwhelming. By the time such individuals become adults – it is far too late. All their friends and relatives are generally Witnesses, and these associations of a lifetime hold a person hostage and force them to conform or pay the price. This is something you need to learn.

As for the research, you said “the statistical analyses in the articles cited are so flawed, that using them is pointless. ” – Yet you provided not a single shred of evidence – not one fact to disprove the research published. It’s easy to make such an accusation without backing it up. This tells me you have not done any research at all on this subject matter.

The deaths because of implementation of Watchtower’s Blood policies are tragic and widespread. Our data is very accurate despite the hippa laws which protect the medical records of patients here in the US. The research was intentionally conservative on many level, and we are certain that we underestimated these deaths by a very fair factor. Additionally the research covered a specific period of time and does not even cover the decades prior during which many additional casualties occurred. Further we have casualties related to cases of leukemia and liver failure which are not all necessarily a component of this research.

Finally – you stated ” However, if an adult of sound mind refuses a blood transfusion, that is no ones business but there own”

Sadly – you are dead wrong. As I have posited, when deaths occur because of obedience to indoctrinated beliefs, this IS our business. This concerns all of us. The adults who govern this world and its medical procedures must take both mental health and physical well-being into account when determining whether a person has made a decision of their own accord, or is coerced into taking a certain position. If you study cult influence this will become crystal clear.

Whenever I read the comments of a truly devoted JW, I shudder. The comments usually involve vitriol, false accusations and evidence of paranoia. Nobody is hating on JWs. We are concerned persons, many who used to be brainwashed by Watchtower ourselves and we are trying to stop needless Watchtower Suicide. This is the reason I was at the United Nations in August 2016, to get more information that will help open the eyes of JWs to the truth about Watchtower and thus free them to think for themselves. Maybe for the first time in their lives.

Sue: It sounds as though you are not a JW. You probably cannot truly appreciate the level of undue influence, coercion, and misinformation these individuals are operating under. Is a truly “informed” level of consent present when most reject a medically necessary blood transfusion? My experience would suggest that it is not. When most JW’s are educated as to the irrational aspects of the Watchtower’s policy, and the shaky foundation upon which it is based, the majority reject it. It is the undue influence that prevents them from critically examining it, for fear of being branded “apostates”, and shunned by their friends and JW family. As for the the “flawed statistical analyses” that you reference, you would have to be more specific if you want a response.

AJWRB Comment Policy

We appreciate the time that our readers spend to share their ideas and give us feedback. We also want our comments to be as useful as possible to all of our readers. Please limit comments to approximately 300 words and avoid the following:

Repetitive postings or comments deemed to be spam. Do not post the same comment to another article or post.

Comments that are not relevant to the post topic, or comments that condone or propose illegal activity, or that breach copyright law.

Comments that include profanity, language or concepts that could be deemed offensive.

Comments that attack a person individually.

Comments in languages other than English should be brief OR translated into English using Google Translate.

Comments that are Evangelical in nature, or link to third party websites that are religious in nature.

AJWRB reserves the right to make editorial decisions regarding submitted comments, including but not limited to removal of comments. All comments are moderated, so please be patient in waiting to see your comment posted. Thank you for observing our comment policy.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Search

Search for:

Donate

Your tax-deductible donation can help AJWRB to continue to provide education, counseling, and support to individuals, qualified experts, groups and organizations advocating Watchtower Blood reforms, and establishing informed consent among the JW population.